July Sacred Harp Events make a busy schedule...

July is shape note singing month in the Ozarks. Everyone has the opportunity to get involved in the shape note singing tradition with the Ozark Folk Center hosting their annual Shape Note Gathering on July 9-11, 2015 in Mountain View. According to the latest schedule I've seen, minor adjustments were made to the schedule and maps added for the Thursday through Saturday events:

July 9, Thursday
A short introductory singing and discussion at 6:00 until 6:45 P.M. to introduce the event in the small White Oak Auditorium located in the Administration Building.  Folks can go to the main show in the theater and buses will be available afterwards to take attendees directly to the main auditorium for the evening program.

July 10, Friday - On the stage of the Folk Center Auditorium, a presentation of all the oblong shape note books in use today. We will have samples from each to sing from.
9:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M. - Morning session
11:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. - Lunch
1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. - Afternoon session
4:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M. - Dinner
7:00 P.M. - The singers will sing as part of the regular Friday evening show.

July 11, Saturday- An exciting new event for the Folk Center as part of the weekend gathering. There will be an All-Day singing at the Stone County Historical Society in the Old High School Building at 204 School Ave., just off of Main Street in Mountain View.
10:00 A.M. - 11:35 A.M. - Morning session
11:35 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. - Lunch (Click the map thumbnail for nearby restaurants.)
1:00 P.M. - 3:30 P.M. - Afternoon session      
Just a reminder to plan on a Dutch treat for lunch. We called it "foraging" on your own when I was in the Army. Of course, we will try to update the Shiloh website if updates become available. The original Ozark Folk Center Announcement is at: http://www.ozarkfolkcenter.com/events/?isofc=1&id=2325

Then on Sunday, July 12th, knowing that not everyone can get to Mountain View on Saturday, we still plan on having our regular monthly singing in Springdale in the General Store from 1:30 until 4:00 P.M. following the normal Sunday schedule. The normal lunch group will be at AQ's Chicken House around noon for lunch and we'll see who might be available for post-singing pie and coffee at Denny's near the Interstate afterwards. This really sounds like a good four days of singing and I certainly hope you can sing at one or more of the events. We'll also bring an extra fan or two to keep things as cool as we can.

Photo: Cory Winters leading the Shiloh Singers on June 14th in Springdale at the Shiloh Museum's General Store. 

In Other News - The Shiloh Singers get-together on Sunday, June 14th, enjoyed a good turnout with 20 singers. The fans kept things fairly cool. Thanks to all who attended.

Shut-ins - Holly Childs, one of our faithful tenors, has spent several days in the hospital after surgery and her daughter, Lisa, has reported positive results and a good prognosis for getting back home in the next few days. Prayers for her speedy full recovery will be appreciated, I'm sure. Holly, we'll miss you this Sunday, but hope you'll feel better by our August singing. Please let us know if there are others that need to be added to the prayer list for the Sunday singing.

That's about all the news I know to print. We hope we'll see you in Mountain View or Springdale this long singing weekend.